How Tulip Siddiq boasted of ties with fallen prime minister Hasina

Although Treasury Minister of United Kingdom (UK) Tulip Siddiq has said she never talked about politics with her aunt, the ousted prime minister of Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina, an investigation by Sky News reveals that the former eagerly expressed ties with the latter, publishing photos of them together and terming their relationship as close.

Blog posts written by Tulip during 2008 and early 2009 reveal she had campaigned for Hasina during Bangladesh's general elections, Sky News reported.

The revelation by Sky News comes after The Times reported that flyers of UK's Labour Party were found at Ganobhaban, the former residence of now deposed prime minister of Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina.

The blog is headed: "Tulip Siddiq, member of the Labour Party action team in Bloomsbury and King's Cross", and in a post on 11 January 2009, Tulip told supporters, "I was really busy in Bangladesh as you probably gathered…

"I've put up photos of Sheikh Hasina's post-election press conference at Bangladesh-China Friendship Conference Centre in Dhaka.

"The most significant element of this press conference for me was Sheikh Hasina's insistence that all the political parties in Bangladesh need to work together for the welfare of the country.

"It is no secret that past governments have not worked with the other political parties and we need to change this trend.

"The prime minister emphasised that the Awami League does not support the 'politics of vengeance' which is encouraging so let's hope that a new political culture is created this year."

She added, "Here's an action shot of me with the prime minister at the press conference. I'm not sure what I was saying but it probably wasn't that interesting!"

In a post on 21 January 2009, she wrote, "I was fortunate enough to travel with Sheikh Hasina in her car during election day.

"The prime minister-elect (prime ministerial candidate at the time!) drove to several constituencies in Dhaka and stopped quickly at each one to meet the parliamentary candidate or speak to the voters."

Describing traveling in her aunt's car, she wrote: "You can see all my photos from election day here… I apologise for the poor quality of some of the pictures. I was taking photos from inside her car which is actually quite difficult!"

"You'll also see a photo of Dhaka Central Jail. I took that photo because Sheikh Hasina told me that this jail was practically her second home for most of her childhood as her father, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, was under arrest for many years.

"She told me that she visited him with the rest of her family every weekend, so it was a very familiar landmark."

Earlier, on December 29, 2008, under the heading "Victory!", Ms Siddiq wrote: "The Awami League have won the elections by a landslide! Sheikh Hasina is the prime minister-elect! I am ecstatic!

"I've been on the campaign trail with Sheikh Hasina all day so I don't really have the energy to write much more but I will do so tomorrow.

"However, I can't resist uploading a couple of photos. This is Sheikh Hasina's face just before she heard the results from an unwinnable constituency.

"Here she is after she heard that the Awami League hard work had paid off in that seat."

The Times reports that political literature of Tulip, Sir Keir Starmer's anti-corruption minister, was found at the heavily guarded palace in Dhaka, covered by dust and debris.

At the top of a staircase were items produced by Tulip. One was a thank you note to local Labour Party members following her election as MP for Hampstead and Kilburn.

Another was her annual report for 2022, inviting readers to learn about her help for those affected by the cost-of-living crisis.

The new disclosures will pile further pressure on Tulip and lead to further calls on the prime minister to sack her.

Many Labour MPs believe her ministerial career is now hanging by a thread.

On Sky News earlier, cabinet minister Peter Kyle told Trevor Phillips Tulip was right to submit herself to an ethics investigation over corruption allegations and strongly hinted she would be sacked if found to have broken the ministerial code.

Asked whether she should stand down until she is cleared of impropriety, Kyle said: "I think she's done exactly the right thing. She's referred herself that the inquiry needs to go through. I think that that's the appropriate way forward.

"I'm giving it all the space it needs to do. I'll be listening for the outcome as the prime minister will be.

"There was a process underway and we know full well it will be a functional process, and the outcomes of it will be stuck to by the prime minister and this government, a complete contrast to what we've had in the past."